The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for insect control and specifically for eradication of the various species of imported South American fire ant.
The imported fire ant has been a destructive pest in the United States for decades. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,118 to Evans, the imported fire ant has caused significant destruction throughout large portions of the United States and is eventually expected to inhabit most of the United States. Common fire ant mounds are two to four feet deep in most parts of the United States, but as described in the '118 patent, a fire ant mound may extend twenty feet beneath the surface, with lateral tunnels extending 75 feet outward. One mound may contain 300,000 individual ants.
The fire ant is an intensely defensive creature that is difficult to eradicate. Disturbing a fire ant mound usually causes the colony to attack the source of the disturbance. Each ant bite leaves a small welt or sore on the victim and thus an attack by a horde of ants can be extremely painful. The colony can be evacuated quickly and the ants protect the queens in each colony. In fact, most experts counsel against any type of subsurface attack on a fire ant mound because the ants will escape or attack the intruder.
Numerous methods of controlling the ant have been devised. Some methods involve topically applying a mixture of several gallons of water and a fire ant poison to drench the mound. Other methods involve sprinkling granular poison onto the mound and drenching the mound with water. Unfortunately, because of the extensive nature of the mounds, the topical application of poisons frequently is not effective to destroy the entire fire ant mound and thus queens from the colony may escape to establish new fire ant colonies.
Other methods developed thus far include products that may be injected into the fire ant mound. For instance, the '118 patent to Evans describes an apparatus that injects intense heat, vapors, insecticides and even steam directly into the mound. U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,336 to Query describes injecting an insecticide and a refrigerant into the fire ant mounds.
These injection techniques involve expensive, often dangerous equipment that typically may only be used by professionals. The injection products described by the Texas Department of Agriculture are available to ordinary consumers but are very expensive. Home owners typically have been required to use the only partially effective topical application techniques. As a result, there is an intense demand for some method that effectively controls fire ants without the dangers and expense inherent in prior devices so that home owners and other amateurs may safely combat the pests.